Talking With Mother
by ForeverHalfa
Summary: Maddie knew something had been going on with her son, she just never expected it to be this. Reveal Fic.


"Looking for something?"

Mom's head turned in my direction, ectopistol aimed between my eyes.

"You!" She yelled. Great, I wonder what I've done now.

"Whoa, take it easy!" I said, raising my hands in a surrendering gesture. "What have I done? All I did was ask you a question."

Mom's cold stare didn't waver as she lowered her gun. She was mad all right. Ever since the truce we made three months ago she'd acted different toward me—treating my ghost side almost as if it were human. Needless to say it I was happy about this, seeing as Mom and Dad didn't shoot at Phantom anymore. So that made me all the more curious as to why she just pointed a gun at me.

I ran my hands across the branch I was sitting on nervously. Mom had been getting better at picking up some of my habits as Phantom—she hasn't noticed the similarities between us yet (no matter how much I tried I could never hide them all), but I know it's only a matter of time before she does.

"So, is there any reason why you decided to point a gun at me?" Mom's eyes fell to the ground and she turned her back to me.

"This doesn't concern you, Phantom. I merely mistook you for another ghost." She said evenly.

"Oh, really?" I floated down and landed next to her. "Though if I remember correctly, you mentioned something about me being 'remarkably different than any other ghost we've encountered before'. Last time I checked hardly anyone looks like me, so you obviously knew who I was when you yelled 'You!'—rather loudly, may I add. So," I floated crossed legged. "Spill,"

Mom looked at me with an irate expression. She was obviously not at all amused by my antics.

"I'm not talking to a ghost about this. Now, if you'll excuse me—" She spun around. "I have to patrol this city, since you obviously aren't."

All right, something was obviously wrong. I followed after her.

"You remember that I can sense any dangerous ghost in Amity Park now, right?" I positioned myself in front of her with my arms crossed. "If something comes up you know I'm on it. Something's bothering you, Maddie. It's not good to keep it bottled up you know." God, I sounded so much like Jazz. "You can talk to me about it. I won't tell a soul, I promise." Trying to make light of the situation at least seemed to pacify her a bit, so I took that as an invitation to continue.

"Why don't we sit down?" I said, guiding her over to a nearby bench and patting it in a welcoming manner. She hesitated for a moment, but decided to sit.

"I can't believe I'm talking to a ghost about this." She said, looking up at the starry sky.

"Well, it would help if I knew what 'this' was." I say, prompting her. She sighs.

"You know I have a son right?" How could I not?

"Danny, right? Black hair, kinda lanky?" She gave me a stare, but nodded.

"I'm worried about him." Oh man, I know where this is going.

"Why?"

Mom hesitates, looking toward me as if weighing an internal battle with herself.

"He's just…not the same. He comes home beaten and bruised but he puts on a façade—he tries to hide it, but I know. I've known for a while now, but every time I go to ask him about it he deflects it. I can tell he doesn't want me or Jack to worry about him, but I can't help it.

"He's so distant now and it bothers me. Danny's not doing well in school and I can't help but worry that's he's gotten himself into trouble, but, for some reason, I can't convince myself of that. I don't want to believe that my baby boy would do such things." Mom pulled her legs to her chest and buried her head.

"I don't want to lose him."

I guess I can't say I didn't see this coming eventually either. There was only so _much_ I could ever hope to hide from my parents—Mom even more. As much as it pains me to say it, I've always been more of a momma's boy. She would've been the first to notice anything off with me. And from what's she's saying, it sounds like she's been keeping this bottled up for a long time.

"You won't." I find myself saying, looking up into the sky.

"How can you be so sure? If I don't know what's going on with my _own _son why would you-" She stopped abruptly, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Unless _you _had something to do with it!"

I could feel Mom's ice-cold stare without even having to look at her.

"What makes you say that?" I ask calmly. Mom rolled her eyes at me.

"I can't believe I didn't notice sooner. I've seen you with Sam and Tucker—Danny's friends—_numerous _times over the years but I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was just coincidence, but now I realize that if they were involved all this time, Danny was _too_." Oh crap, crap, crap! This is _so _notgood. "But strangely enough, he never seems to be anywhere near you. Those three are attached at the hip, so I refuse to believe he's too far away." I felt the barrel of her ectopistol against my temple.

"_What have you been doing to my son!_"

I closed my eyes and sighed. As much as I didn't want to drag Mom into this, it looks like I had no other choice. This was literally eating at her, and my hero's complex was having none of it. Despite the obvious cons of her knowing, I couldn't let her suffer any more.

"Maddie, I'll tell you everything, just lower the gun."

"Not a chance. Whatever you have to say, say it." Ouch, that hurt.

"Fine. Danny does work with me, but it's not in the way you think." Mom's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, this is where things get a little complicated." Here we go, past the point of no return. "You remember the portal accident Danny had almost two years ago?"

"How do you know-"

"-What happened?" I interjected. Mom's eyes flickered nervously to the ground.

"D-Danny was down in the lab and got a shocked when the portal finally booted up. He was shaken up, but otherwise okay." Oh, Mom….

"That's not the full story."

"What do you mean that's not the full story? I think I know what happened to my own son!" This is it.

"What if I told you…there was an 'On' switch on the inside of the portal… and that maybe Danny was on the inside when he got electrocuted."

"_Electrocuted?!_ Danny would be dead! He's most certainly isn't!" Mom was in hysterics now, the ectopistol dropping and clambering to a stop a few feet away. She collapsed onto the ground, burying her face with her hands as she wept. "It's not true! _That can't be true!_"

I sat down in front of her, pulling her hands down and looked her in the eyes.

"Mom," I said, voice cracking as I moved her hand to my chest where my beating heart would lay. "It is true."

Mom was utterly silent. She stared at my chest and then looked to me in absolute horror. I wrapped both of my hands around the one hand she had on my chest, my eyes downcast.

"I didn't die—not completely. I'm still me. I was electrocuted and this is what it did to me." My voice was nothing but broken sobs as I called forth my transformation rings. I heard her scream and try to pull away, but I kept her hand firmly on my chest. She needed to feel that I was still here with my beating human heart.

I felt my heart start up again as the transformation completed. I heard Mom suck in a gasp as I raised my head, looking at her with ebony hair and blue eyes.

"I'm Danny Phantom, Mom."

**Happy Eleventh Danny-versary everyone, and here's to many more!**

_**~ForeverHalfa**_


End file.
